Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Walls.
Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Make Your Day Design really started with friends and family. We had always been gardeners, and Mike has a background in horticulture, so flowers and plants were already a big part of our lives. We began helping with florals for friends’ and family weddings and quickly discovered how much we enjoyed combining growing, design, and the excitement of being part of someone’s special day.
At the time, we were both teaching full-time, so the business started small—mostly weekend weddings and events. Somewhere along the way, we came up with the name Make Your Day Design, and what began as something we did for people we knew gradually started becoming a real business.
As the floral side grew, so did our gardens. We began expanding the amount of flowers we grew ourselves and became increasingly interested in the farmer-florist model—growing flowers locally and then using them in our own designs whenever possible.
Over time, we expanded beyond weddings into everyday floral deliveries, private and corporate events, workshops, bouquet-building experiences, and our flower truck. Today, Make Your Day Design blends many of the things we have always loved: gardening, horticulture, creativity, working with people, and creating something memorable for them.
It has been a very organic evolution. We didn’t start with a grand plan to build a floral business—we started by saying yes to a few weddings, growing more flowers, learning with every event, and continuing to build from there.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not always! We have definitely had our share of learning experiences along the way.
One of the biggest challenges has been balancing the business with our careers in education. For a long time, weddings, events, deliveries, growing flowers, and all of the behind-the-scenes business work had to fit into evenings, weekends, and school breaks. That is one of the reasons we have tried to grow carefully and not take on too much too quickly.
We also learned pretty quickly that loving flowers and running a floral business are two very different things. There has been a lot to learn about pricing, marketing, purchasing, staffing, bookkeeping, contracts, customer service, and figuring out which opportunities actually make sense for us. Some lessons have definitely been easier than others!
Growing our own flowers has its challenges too. Weather, pests, timing, and Mother Nature in general do not always cooperate with a wedding date, so we have learned to be flexible and to combine what we grow ourselves with flowers we source from other growers and wholesalers.
As the business has grown, we have also spent a lot of time thinking about the kind of workplace we want to create. Part of our mission is to provide meaningful work opportunities for people with disabilities, something that connects naturally with our backgrounds in education. We have learned that doing that well takes thoughtful training, structure, patience, and consistency. As we continue to grow, one of our goals is to build those opportunities into the business in a way that is meaningful, sustainable, and beneficial for everyone involved.
Probably one of our biggest lessons has been learning that we do not have to say yes to everything. In the beginning, almost every opportunity felt like something we should pursue. Now we are much better at stepping back and asking whether something fits the kind of business we are trying to build.
There have certainly been bumps along the way, but we think they have helped shape the business in a positive way. We are still learning all the time, and that is probably one of the things we enjoy most about it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Make Your Day Design is a farmer-florist business, so our work really starts in the garden. We grow a portion of the flowers we use ourselves and combine those with carefully sourced blooms to create designs that feel fresh, natural, colorful, and a little different from what you might find in a traditional flower shop.
Weddings are a big part of what we do, and we especially enjoy working with couples to create florals that feel personal to them rather than simply choosing from a set package. We also offer everyday floral deliveries, sympathy flowers, private and corporate events, university events, workshops, bouquet-building experiences, and seasonal pop-ups with our flower truck, Maxine.
One of the things we are becoming known for is creating experiences around flowers, not just selling arrangements. Whether someone is building a bouquet from the truck, attending a workshop, choosing flowers for a wedding, or receiving an arrangement at their door, we want the experience to feel personal, welcoming, and memorable.
We also think our connection to growing sets us apart. Because we are gardeners first, we pay attention to seasonality, texture, movement, and the little details that can make an arrangement feel as though it came straight from the garden. When our own flowers are available, there is something especially rewarding about seeing a bloom go from our field to someone’s wedding bouquet or dining room table.
What we are most proud of, though, is the kind of business we are building. We have grown Make Your Day Design thoughtfully and from the ground up, while continuing to learn and improve along the way. Part of our mission is also to create meaningful work opportunities for people with disabilities, and we hope to expand that part of the business as we continue to grow.
Ultimately, what sets us apart is probably the combination of all of those things: we grow flowers, we design with them, we bring them directly into our community, and we genuinely enjoy creating experiences that make people happy. For us, flowers are not just a product—they are a way to connect with people and help make an ordinary day, or a really important one, feel special.
What are your plans for the future?
We are really excited about the next stage of Make Your Day Design. A big part of our focus is continuing to build a strong team so we can grow the business in a way that is sustainable and still feels personal. As we expand, we also hope to create more meaningful employment opportunities and continue developing the inclusive side of our mission.
We are also planning to expand our gardens and increase the amount of material we are able to grow ourselves. Growing has always been at the heart of the business, so we would love to keep strengthening that connection between what is happening in the garden and what eventually ends up in our designs.
We are also interested in exploring more plant-based offerings. Our background and interests extend beyond cut flowers, and we see opportunities to incorporate plants into workshops, gifts, events, and other parts of the business in a way that feels natural for us.
Creatively, we never want to stop learning. We are constantly working to develop as designers, experiment with new techniques, and push ourselves a little further with each wedding and event. One of the things we enjoy most about this industry is that there is always something new to learn.
Overall, we are not looking to grow simply for the sake of getting bigger. We want to keep building Make Your Day Design thoughtfully—expanding our team, our gardens, our skills, and the experiences we can offer while staying connected to the things that made us want to do this in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://makeyourdaydesign.com
- Instagram: @makeyourdaydesign
- Facebook: Make Your Day Design Mobile Florist
